Strength Of A Father
by Matatabi-chan
Summary: 4th Strength. It's time the carefree writer shows just how strong he can be when he finds Alexis missing.Can he hold it together to be of some help or will he be sidelined by his fatherly emotions?  Can they solve it without trouble from Gates?
1. Chapter 1

I do not own anything from the original creation of Castle!

Chapter 1

Castle opened his eyes slowly, leaned back in his chair, legs on his desk and laptop in his lap. He had his phone beside him no messages or missed calls. He must have dozed off while writing the night before. Another story involving his sexy detective Heat, based on his lovely muse, Kate Beckett. He knew he loved her, he hoped she felt the same. He was feeling more and surer that she had some sort of feelings for him recently with the way she looked at him, talked to him and even the comments she shot at him.

He sighed; the last few weeks they had been working together after hours or meeting with the team at his loft or her apartment. Gates was losing her patience, especially after almost dying on a case, then there was the case when Esposito had been shot a little over a six months ago. She was not allowing him to work with the detectives as much, and so Castle and Beckett had decided that he would work every case to the fullest but only at the precinct occasionally until they were able to find a way to get Gates to accept him. So far, that was not going so well.

He put his computer on the desk before standing up and stretching. He sighed looking at the time. 6 AM; much too early to be awake. He walked into the kitchen and started the coffee pot before walking up the stairs to his daughter's room. After the last few cases, he seemed to need to see his daughter as soon as he woke up. Between the cases and his writing he need to make sure, he wasn't in one of his dreams. He needed to make sure everyone was safe, even if everyone were still sleeping.

Pausing briefly, he peeked through the crack in the doorway to his mother's room, finding her sound asleep in her bed. He walked down a bit farther passing a bathroom and a closet, coming to stop at the closed door to his daughter's room. He turned the knob opening it as quietly as he could, just enough to peer through at the bed. He froze. The bed was empty. He walked in farther to see if she had gone to school early, but her books and her bag was still to the side of her desk. Turning quickly he went back down the hall, checking the bathroom before he went in waking his mother.

"Richard." She whined barely cracking her eyes. "What are you doing?" She asked not happy to be woken early. "Not everyone can fall asleep whenever they want."

"Mother, was Alexis here when you came home?"

"What?" She asked opening her eyes more to see the worry on his face making her sit up. "Richard, what's wrong?"

"Alexis isn't here." He said quickly.

"She must have had to go to school early today." Martha shrugged.

"Her books and bag are still on her desk. Was she here when you came home?" He asked again and Martha looked at him as worry crept across her face. She shook her head and Castle took a slow breath.

"Did you call her? Maybe she went to meet some friends before school." She offered another explanation. Castle looked at her a second before he turned making his way down the stairs, back into his office to grab his phone. Dialing his daughter's number, he heard it ring and ring and ring until the voice mail kicked in. He hung up and turned to look at Martha who had pulled a robe on and was now in his office doorway. "What?"

"She's not answering." He said softly. "She always answers." Martha moved quickly across the room as Castle sat down into his desk chair heavily. She wrapped her arms around him as she tried to hold her own fear back, knowing what her son must be feeling. Every motherly instinct jumped forward wanting to comfort and protect him as she heard him take a slow deep breath before getting up, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair.

"Richard, where are you going?" She asked as he pulled his keys and phone into his pocket and started for the door making her follow him.

"The precinct. They might be able to track her or something." He said as he walked out the door leaving Martha alone.

Castle ran from the elevators and over to Beckett as she walked to her desk holding a cup of coffee. She looked at him confused as to why he was there. "Castle." She said but the look in his eyes stopped her from asking anything more.

"Beckett, I need you to trace Alexis' phone." She furrowed her brow, walking around him shaking her head.

"Castle didn't we go over this when you had that ridiculous app on your phone? She has a right to her privacy. I'm not going to use the police to spy on your daughter. Why don't you just use that app of yours?"

"Because I deleted it and…. I don't know." He said rushed making her glance at him curious as to why he was so flustered.

"What's going on?" She asked completely facing him.

"Alexis isn't home."

"She probably went to school early. She always does. You tell me that all the time."

"Her bag and books are still there…" He trailed off and the intensity and fear written all over his face began to worry her. "She didn't answer when I called."

"Castle-"

"Kate, she always answers. She calls or at least sends me a message when she's not coming home. She always checks in. I haven't heard from her since she went out last night with one of her friends." Beckett looked at him a minute before giving a small nod and turning to her computer to enter the girl's number.

Alexis and Beckett had become very close over the years, meeting for lunch or even dinner on several occasions. Sometimes to just talk and others it was for Alexis to ask her advice on various problems that she didn't feel completely comfortable going to her father or grandmother for. Beckett froze looking at her screen.

"Did it ring when you called it?" She asked, looking up at him to see his nod as the boys walked over with smiles seeing Castle back at the precinct. She put her desk line on speaker and dialed.

"You've reached Alexis. Leave a message and I'll call you back as soon as I can!" The teen's voice said happily. The boys looked between Castle and Beckett as she looked at Castle. He was frozen, knowing what it meant before he ran a hand through his hair and turned walking off to the break room.

"What's going on?" Ryan asked as Beckett watched Castle walk into the break room, he sat on the little couch and ran his hands over his face.

Beckett looked at the two men. "Keep a trace on Alexis' phone. If it pops back on the grid I want to know."

"Beckett-" Ryan started but was cut off.

"She went out last night with a friend and she never came home."

"Why did he wait all night?"

"Just keep an eye on her phone and get what you can on where she was last night." She ordered before walking over to where Castle was sitting. The two detectives watched Beckett sit next to Castle before they started talking. Ryan turned with Esposito to get to work.

"She went out with an old friend from school. Said they were going to see a movie and maybe some food and then she would be home by 11 since it was a school night. If she would be later she would have called." He shook his head sitting back, still staring at nothing. "I should have called her last night. I should have stayed awake until she was home."

"There's no way you could have known." She said softly reaching out, putting her hand over his that was resting on his lap. "The boys are getting a trace going. You and me will go to the school and see if the boy is in class. We'll talk to him if he is and if not we'll go to his house." He tightened her grip on his hand. "You know we'll get her back." He nodded and took a deep breath.

"How are you going to do this? You're homicide and I guarantee Gates isn't going to let you freelance."

Beckett smiled at him. "This isn't the first time we've worked behind her back." She stood up and pulled him with her. "Do you know what movie theater she would have gone to?"

"The one in the village." She nodded and led the way out to the two men.

"See if you can get footage from the IMAX in the village. Castle and I are going to the school. Let me know what you find."

"And Gates?" Esposito asked.

"Tell her whatever you want; I'm taking lead on this."

"We're not going to hand this over so easily." Esposito reassured her. Beckett nodded and led Castle, who hadn't been paying much attention, to the elevators.

"He's really out of it." Ryan commented. Esposito nodded before they both turned back to finding out what happened.

Beckett and Castle walked into Alexis' school to find the students all walking around talking. Several stopped to look at them, a few recognizing Castle and the others stared at Beckett's cuffs, badge and gun hanging at her waist. He led the way to the principal's office not even taking a moment to say hello to any teachers or students who greeted him.

"Mr. Castle." The secretary smiled. "Are you dropping Alexis off? I saw she was absent today." Castle shook his head.

"No, Jean. That's why we're here actually."

"Detective Kate Beckett. I need to know if James Terrett came to school today." Beckett cut in placing her badge on the counter.

"What's going on?" Jean asked looking between the two. Castle shook his head.

"Can you just tell us if he came to school today?" Beckett asked. She knew Castle was having a hard enough time holding together let alone having to explain to everyone. His daughter was his world and with Alexis missing and maybe even in a life-threatening situation, he was falling apart inside. It was only a matter of time before it showed.

"I'll… I'll check." She turned to go through her computer as Beckett stole a glance at Castle.

"Mr. Castle." A heavy man with black hair walked from his office to the side as he spoke. "What can I do for you today?"

"We're not here socially." Castle told him and glanced at Beckett's badge still on the counter.

"Oh, I hope one of my students didn't do anything too bad."

"We're actually looking into James Terrett." Castle told him pushing everything to the side as much as he could. If he was going to help get his daughter back, he needed to stay in control. "He and Alexis went out last night…"

"And she never came home." Beckett finished and gained and small nod of appreciation from Castle.

"Detective, Mr. Castle." Jean said walking over to them with a paper. "James is not in school today."

"I'm going to need his address." She nodded and handed her the paper as Beckett's phone rang. "Beckett." She answered. "Alright thanks, Espo." She hung up as Castle's phone rang out with a familiar voice 'Dad! Dad! Dad!' He looked at Beckett quickly as he pulled his phone out. "Esposito said the phone came back online a few minutes ago they are trying to get a mark on it now." She moved closer so she could look at the screen.

"Beckett…" He trailed off as she took the phone and he took a step back.

'We get what we want in 24 hours or we will make her beg for us to kill her.' Was all that was written. She looked over at Castle as he leaned against the wall.

"What are they talking about?" She saw him shake his head.

"I don't know." She picked up the paper and her badge from the counter. "Let's get her back, Castle." She turned to look at him, pushing her own fear back. He nodded as he stood straight, taking his phone back from Beckett.

"Let us know if there's anything we can do." The principal said. Castle only nodded and followed Beckett out to the car. Beckett started the car and looked at Castle as he sat back into his seat. She reached over grabbing his hand and holding it tight. He looked at her and saw a small smile tug at her lips. Her brown eyes now a bit more wet as she looked into his blue ones.

"We'll check out the kid's place and then go back to the precinct and see what we can dig up. You don't have anything to do with people wanting something so they must think they have someone else's daughter." She paused looking at him. "We'll find her and we'll make sure this bastard fries." He nodded as she let go and started to the boy, James', address.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Beckett pounded on the door. "NYPD open the door!" She called before pounding again. She paused seeing Castle walk to the side and look through the windows.

"It doesn't look like anyone's home." He said walking back over to stand beside her.

"I'll call Ryan and Esposito and get numbers for his parents." She explained pulling her phone from her pocket to call the two men. Castle put his back to the house and leaned his head back lost in his own thoughts. "Castle." He heard, snapping him from his trance to look at the expectant face of Beckett. "Come on. Ryan and Esposito are going to get all the files and meet us at the loft when they're done." he only nodded and followed Beckett back to the car.

An hour later Castle was walking into his loft where Martha was curled on the couch drinking a glass of wine. Beckett looked at the woman with puffy red eyes as Castle walked over to her, throwing his jacket over the back of the couch.

"Richard." She said softly as he reached out helping her to stand.

"It's late. You need to get some sleep, Mother." He said gently as he started leading her towards the stairs. "Try to get some sleep." He told her. She nodded and walked up the stairs after giving him a tight hug.

"Did you find anything?" She asked.

"We found a few things. If we find anything major, I'll let you know."

"Richard." She paused again. "I know you and Kate will get her back. You both love Alexis very much. Get her back soon." He nodded as she turned away and went up to bed. Castle turned back to see Beckett standing by the couch looking at him sadly.

"Ryan called. He said the parents are on a cruise and there's no way to get a hold of them. They're trying to get a hold of the ship but it's a long shot. There are a lot of channels they have to get through without letting them know what they're up to." Castle just nodded.

Alexis slowly opened her eyes with a headache. She took a deep breath looking around before noticing someone beside her. Pushing the pain in her head away, she moved to the person to see James. She saw a lump on the side of his head.

"James." She said reaching out to shake him awake. "James." She said a bit louder making him jump as he opened his eyes. He tried to side up but grabbed his head quickly. "Slowly. You have a nasty bump on the side of your head."

"What happened?" He asked groggy.

"I don't know."

"Where are we?"

"I don't know that either." She sighed sitting back with her feet curled under her as she looked around and he slowly sat up. "I think we were kidnapped. But why?" She asked aloud.

"Well your dad is famous and rich." Alexis looked at him and rolled her eyes.

"My dad also works with the best cops in New York. He and Beckett will get to us. We just have to figure out how to stay alive and all until then…" She started looking around. "We need to find a way to get out or get a message to them." She tested her feet and stood still for a minute.

"You okay?" James asked as he slowly pushed himself up to his own feet.

"Yeah. I'm fine. See if you can find a light switch." He nodded and watched her turn and start running her hands along the wall looking for a switch of some kind. It took a moment before he jumped into action searching the opposite walls.

"Find anything?"

"No. You?" She asked turning away from the wall.

"Got something." He said seconds before the lights overhead buzzed to life.

The two looked around the room and found it all cement. There was nothing in the room, only a tiny window ten feet from the cement floor that was blacked out and a large metal door to the left of the light switch.

"Okay…" Alexis sighed as she started trying to figure a way out.

"How are you able to even think about ways to get out when we don't even know why we're here or who they are?" He wondered as he walked over to her as she continued to inspect the room.

"First of all, my dad writes crime novels for a living, I help with situations and proof read most of his work. Second, we need to help them find a place to start looking for us. My dad and Detective Beckett will find us but we need to try to help. Lastly. I'm a genius." She gave a smirk before going back to looking around.

"You really think they'll get to us in time?" She paused and turned to look at him.

"Dad wouldn't let anything happen to me. He's probably beating himself up right now because we were taken."

"If he's not thinking clearly how are they going to find us? Can that cop do it on her own?"

"My dad may be upset but Beckett will put him in his place. Between the three of them my dad will be back on track within hours of starting the investigation." He looked at her as she shrugged. "Beckett, Esposito and Ryan are the best detectives in New York. They are also my dad's best friends. They'll come." He just nodded and left her to run through her thought in silence.

Castle sat on his couch as Beckett was finishing talking to the boys at the door. "I'm going to stay and see if we can get anything else." She told them as they glanced at Castle as he ran his hands over his face.

"We'll see if there's anything else we can dig up." Esposito said.

"You guys go home and get some sleep. Jump back in tomorrow. It's bad enough Castle and I will be up all night working on this, we need someone with a rested head." She shook her head at the two before glancing at Castle.

"Beckett, this isn't a normal case, we're working off the books first of all. Secondly, we're working to get back a friend's daughter who was kidnapped with her friend. She's been gone about 24 hours now. I don't know about you bro," He looked at Ryan. "But I'm not getting any sleep until we get this figured out, and you know Lanie would slap me senseless even if I did."

"I already talked to Jenny. We're going to get this done fast." Ryan explained to her.

"Richard?" They heard from the stairway making Castle push to his feet and walk over to his mother as she reached the bottom step. "Richard? Are you going to get her?" She reached out grabbing his upper arm.

"We're still working on finding her. Go back to bed. I'll let you know when we know where she is." He told her softly.

"I can't sleep with Alexis out there somewhere with god knows who." She told him still holding onto him.

"We're actually on our way back to the precinct to see where else we can look. We can't get a hold of James' parents so we need to find another place to start looking. We're going to get them both out safe." Esposito said making the two look at him. Martha let go of Castle and started walking over to the three detectives. "Ryan and I already decided we're not stopping until we find something."

"But while we're looking it's best that you try to get as much sleep as you can so when we do find her you won't be exhausted." Beckett tried and glanced at Castle who had come to walk up next to her. she could see how tired he was, he had little sleep to begin with and to have the stress of Alexis taken on top of that…. he looked like he was about to drop any minute.

"Why don't you go visit your friend Annie for a little while, mother? Get your mind off this a bit." Castle offered and saw her think for a minute before nodding.

"Thank you for helping Richard to find Alexis." She said as a tear ran down her cheek, looking at each detective.

"It's the least we could do for a friend." Esposito said before looking at Beckett and Castle. "I'll call as soon as we find something for you to go on. Let us know if you get any bright theories." He and Ryan turned and left, Beckett shut the door behind them and turned to Martha and Castle.

"Call your friend. I'm sure she's still up." Castle said as Martha nodded whipping a tear from her face. Gently he pulled her to him and hugged her as she cried. Beckett turned and walked back over to the couch leaving the two have their personal moment. She couldn't believe how strong Castle was being through all of this. She knew he was torn up inside and it was showing a bit outside but he was holding himself together very well.

Suddenly the cushion beside her sunk making her look over at Castle as he sunk into its softness. She couldn't help but notice the haunted look in his eyes. It was only there for a second before he pulled a mask over it and looked back at the papers on the table. She reached over and grabbed his hand making him looked at her. She hated seeing the man she loved hurt so badly and the girl he saw as a daughter in danger, even if neither knew her true feelings.

"We'll get her safe and sound, Castle." She gave a small smile. "I will make sure we get her safe and I will make sure the bastards fry for doing this." He was surprised slightly by the hate he heard in her voice. He had known Alexis and Beckett had become close but the way she was talking made the wheels in his head start turning.

"I know." Was all he said before he stood up as he started running through everything they knew so far. Beckett watched, listening to him ramble the facts.

After an hour, he began pacing. After two hours, Beckett was sure there was a divot in the floor. Standing up she walked over to him stopping him mid-way through the facts that he was once again repeating. He looked at her confused as she grabbed his arm to stop him, turning him to face her.

"We'll figure it out but you can't force it. Nothing is clear if you force images to form." She said softly as she took a step closer to him. They were inches away from each other as she looked up at him and saw the pain and worry that was threatening to take control.

"I know you can't force them but we need a theory or a lead of some kind and for once I have absolutely nothing." He explained frustrated. "I can't just sit and wait for things to come to me. Alexis is out there, with people who want something. Something I don't even know what. She's my daughter, Beckett; this isn't one of the murder cases that we can work through." He was becoming angry, not with her but at the situation, at himself and at the bastards who took his little girl from him.

Beckett furrowed her brow looking up at him. Before she knew what was going on, or what the words that were flowing from her mouth, everything was spewing out from her. "I know that. This is not any normal case, because she is your daughter. We will find her but trying to force things to work will only take us longer to sort out the right stuff. We need to focus on keeping our options open." She reached out letting her hand rest against his chest. Looking through her lashes the next string or words fell from her tongue much easier than she thought they ever would, "Martha, Alexis …you; you're the closet to a family that I've had in a long time. Alexis is like a daughter to me, I love her like a daughter. I'm not going to let anyone hurt her. And getting the people who have hurt you so bad by taking her will be even sweeter than catching a serial killer. No one hurts the ones I love."

Before he could say anything, his phone rang. "Castle." He answered. "Gina, hi…." Beckett watched as he froze for a second and dropped his head a bit. "Yeah it's true….. No…. Gina…. Beckett's already-" He stopped as he closed his eyes listening to Gina talking loudly into the phone. "No-" He was cut off again.

Beckett had enough. Gina knew how close he was with Alexis; she should know she can't push him especially right now. She walked over taking the phone, earning herself a confused look from Castle as she put it to her ear to hear Gina still ranting about Castle keeping a better eye on Alexis.

"Gina." She said sternly interrupting her rant. "Listen this is being handled by the police and we are doing what we can to get her home as soon as possible. You sitting on the phone accusing Castle of not looking after his own daughter is not doing anything than making things worse. It is not his fault this happened and you need to stop blaming him for it." She paused listening to Gina as she turned away from Castle, not wanting to see the look on his face. "We all love Alexis, we all want her back but you telling Castle that it's his fault is doing nothing but making him feel like it is, when I can tell you for a fact it is not. So please. Step back, let us work and get her home safely." She hung up and turned back to look at Castle who was looking at her shocked and Martha who was slightly behind him looking at her with a smirk.

"I always knew I liked." Martha gave a small smile as Castle snapped out of his thoughts taking his phone the Beckett offered it back to him. "I called Annie. She's going to pick me up in a half hour. Are you sure you're alright staying here alone?" She asked Castle who gave a nod.

"I'll be fine, Mother. Besides I'm probably not going to be here much." He replied. Martha looked at Beckett as Castle went back to the papers on the table.

"Make sure he's not alone. Alexis is my granddaughter and I'm pretty close with her, this is killing me. Richard and Alexis have a special bond. This is destroying him…" She trailed off as she walked closer to Beckett.

"You don't have to worry, I'll take care of him, Martha." Martha reached out with a small smile.

"I know you will. I know you will take care of him and you'll find Alexis and bring her home. I see how much you love them; just make sure to let me know when you find her." Beckett could only nod as Martha gave her arm a squeeze before turning away and disappearing back up the stairs. Beckett stood still before her phone rang making Castle's head jump up to look at her.

"Beckett." She answered. "Put the through and work on a trace." She glanced over at Castle who had climbed to his feet walking over to her. She took a slow breath before pulling her phone away from her and putting it on speaker, setting it on the counter.

"Detective." They heard a jumbled voice.

"Yes, this is Detective Beckett. Who is this?"

"Who I am doesn't matter. You either back off and make the little girl's parents give us what we want or we will take this to the next level."

"What is it you want? Because her father doesn't know who you are or what you want."

"I told you we get what we want. No playing games or we will make that girl wish she was dead." Beckett looked at Castle who was trying his best to keep his mouth shut knowing he wouldn't be able to get anything from them.

"If you tell me what it is you want I will make sure you get it."

"The parents know." The kidnapper said.

"Her father doesn't know anything about what is going on." Castle said trying to keep his voice even as he spoke. "Her father thinks you have the wrong kid."

"We know who we have. Mr. and Mrs. Lankastar know exactly what we want."

"You don't have the Lankastar kid. You have Alexis Castle and James Terrett." Castle's voice was starting to rise as he began to lose control. Beckett reached out grabbing his hand and holding it tight.

"We'll be in contact." The kidnapper said rushed.

"Tell us what you want; we'll get you what you want if you let the kids go."

"We'll be in contact." He called into the phone before the line went dead. Beckett turned to look at Castle who was only staring at the phone. She turned so she was facing him and pulled him closer to her.

"Castle." She said softly. He was still staring at the phone. "Rick." She said again softly as she reached up to place her hand against his cheek to make him look at her. "We'll get her back." The look in his eyes made her chest squeeze tight. He was in so much pain, worrying about his daughter. "I'll call Esposito and Ryan and we'll see what this Mr. and Mrs. Lankastar are into." She let her hand drop slowly to rest on his chest.

"Yeah." He barely whispered before he turned away and back to the coffee table with the papers. She turned back to calling the two detectives.

"Esposito." He answered. He and Ryan were going through everything they could find at the precinct in the conference room. "Ryan couldn't get a trace. We're running down what we can but it looks like the used some service to call through…..Mr. and Mrs. Lankastar. Got it. How's castle?" He glanced at Ryan who was looking at him waiting for the answer. "I'll call when we have the information." He hung up and looked at Ryan.

"How's Castle?"

"Beckett said he's holding it together, but just barely. They got a lead form the kidnapper who called. Thought Alexis was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lankastar."

The two men got to their feet and went to Ryan's computer. Since it was after midnight, the precinct was relatively empty so they weren't worried about someone seeing what they were working on. They weren't worried about Gates finding out they were working the kidnapping of one of their best friend's daughter. It was more than looking for a friend's kid; it was more like they were searching for their niece. They weren't just friends, the four of them were a family. And the two men were not going to let the bastards get away with hurting their family.

Ryan sat back in his seat with an accomplished smirk. "Got it."

"Print it out and let's go show it to Beckett and Castle." Esposito said patting his friend shoulder. The smile on both their faces fell as soon as they heard a throat clear behind them.

"Show Beckett and Castle what?" The two men turned to see Gates standing there looking at them. "Speaking of them, where have they been today and why are you two here?"

"W-well…. We… we were just…" Ryan stammered and Gates nodded narrowing her eyes at them.

"I don't know what it is you two are covering for them for but it better be worth your jobs." She crossed her arms as they looked at each other. "Where are Beckett and Castle?"

"At Castle's." Esposito said making the chief nod. "Beckett's helping Castle with his new book and she wanted us to get some information she forgot to print. So since we were here making sure all our paperwork was done we said sure."

"Uh huh. Well print it out and let's go." The two looked at her worried. "Don't look so worried." Ryan turned and printed the papers while Esposito grabbed his jacket. He walked over took the printed papers and walked out with Gates and Ryan, both pulling their jackets on.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Alexis and James startled as the door was flung open. They stood unsure of what to do as a tall man with black messy hair and nearly black eyes strode over holding a gun in one hand as a second man stood at the doorway with his matted blond hair and gray eyes, also holding a gun.

"You, you're coming with me." The black haired man said as he grabbed Alexis' arm tightly.

"Alexis!" James called and went to help her. The man held the gun up level with his head.

"James, it's okay. Just…. Don't do anything." Alexis said softly before looking up at the man. "Don't hurt him."

"As long as he isn't stupid he won't get hurt." The man said dropping the gun and dragging her with him through the door as James watched wanting to do something. Alexis looked around trying to look for an escape route that they could use. She realized the one man stayed by the door as the other escorted her down the hall to a room at the end.

She saw several doors on her way to the room, all shut with locks on the outside. As she looked at what was in the hallway she quickly realized they were in a basement of some kind. Another man stood at the doorway and opened it for them. He shoved Alexis forward. Stumbling a few steps, she steadied herself against the wall before turning around. The man with black hair grabbed her hands and tugged a zip tie around her wrists tightly making her wince. As the man stepped away, she saw another with a mask on. She heard a click and saw the gun in the man's hand.

"We're going to send a little picture to your dad." He gave a nod.

"Why are you doing this?" Suddenly his hand shot out and she felt to the ground. Her cheek burning from the force of his hand hitting it, she tasted blood and knew her lip was split. She felt the man grab her arm and pull her back to her feet.

"You will not open your mouth, you will not do anything. Understand?" He told her forcefully. She gave a small nod and he again nodded to the man who brought her into the room. She saw him pull something from his pocket and suddenly she felt her arms being pulled up to be hooked to the wall seconds before the gun was pressed firmly to the soft skin under her chin. A quick flash went off.

"I'll send it out as soon as I get upstairs, boss." The man with black hair said before both turned leaving her hanging an inch from the ground, the zip tie cutting into her hands.

She didn't know what was going on but she knew her father and Beckett would come. She knew if she and James were going to survive they needed to bide their time. Look for escape routes without drawing any attention to them. She was trying to think of a way out of this situation, trying to remember what her dad had taught her over the years of him writing crime novels.

She closed her eyes trying to push away the pain coming from her hands and shoulders. How would one of his characters get out of a situation like this? She asked herself before she heard the door swing open and the scuffling of feet. Opening her eyes, she saw the door slam shut as James looked at it. He turned to see Alexis, making him move quickly to try to help her.

Grabbing her around the waist, he pushed up letting the zip tie come above the hook and she came forward, letting her hands slide over his head as he gently set her on the ground. "Alexis." He whispered.

"I'm okay. They just wanted something that looked really bad to show to my dad." She explained. "They want something from him."

"Let's just worry about getting out of here." He said as she pulled her hands up and over his head again, letting them fall into her lap. "Why did they move us into another room?"

Alexis looked around. "This one is smaller. No window at all, there's this beam here they rigged with a hook…." She trailed off thinking. "They want to confine up with as little things as possible."

"How do you know so much?" He asked and saw her smirk.

"My dad. He is always trying to figure out how to get his characters out of these kinds of situations. Sometimes he walks the scene, I read his work and sometimes I give him ideas." She explained before began adjusting so she could stand up.

"What are you doing?" He watched Alexis begin walking around the room.

"Looking at the room. The more you know about your surroundings the more you know what you have at hand to use."

Beckett stood from her seat at the dining room table to answer the door while Castle continued to look through the papers. "Castle, you're forcing it." She said as she opened the door. Freezing, as her eyes came in contact with Gate's. "Sir…"

"Save it." She said as she walked in, the two men following her silently apologizing, as she looked at them confused. Castle turned in his seat before jumping to his feet when he saw Gates walking in. They walked over to where Castle was standing. "Show them that information you printed. And then I want a real explanation." Esposito handed Beckett the papers and Castle walked over and looked over her shoulder.

"They have a daughter named Alex." Esposito started. "Dad's a criminal lawyer and mom's a librarian."

"Criminal law. That has to be the connection." Beckett said as Castle nodded.

"But what do they want from them that they would do something like this?" Castle asked making Beckett nod as she started running through ideas.

"Okay, you've seen the information. Now you two better start talking." Castle and Beckett looked at each other for a moment.

"I'll explain everything." Beckett told her boss. "Castle, show the boys what we've put together so far." He gave a nod and turned around leading the two men over to the table, moving a half filled glass of wine.

"Okay, detective. What is going on?" Gates asked as Beckett lead her a little way away to talk to her.

"Castle's daughter was kidnapped. She went out with a friend last night and neither of them came home last night." Beckett told her.

"We are a homicide department we do not deal with kidnappings."

"Yes sir I know but I'm not going to let someone who has no drive to find out what happened, take over. And I can guarantee Castle and the boys wont either. We know how this looks and we understand we will most likely be in a lot of trouble after this but this is something we need to do."

"You have been abusing your badge."

"I understand it can be taken that way, sir. I know what this seems like but Castle is one of ours. He's a part of our family and Alexis is like a niece to the boys."

"There are rules for a reason."

"I understand and I will take full responsibility for what has been going on. Esposito and Ryan had nothing to do with it; they just gathered information I asked for." Gates looked at Beckett for a long moment before she glanced over at Castle who was now back in his seat running his hands over his face as the two detectives went through the papers.

"What is she to you?" Beckett looked at her confused. "She is Castle's daughter and you said she's like Esposito and Ryan's niece. What is she to you?" Beckett thought a minute and opened her mouth only to be cut off by the sound of Castle's phone going off. Ringing with Alexis' voice yelling 'dad'.

She turned and quickly made her way over to Castle where he ran to the counter to look at his phone. He took a breath, handing the phone to Beckett as he closed his eyes and turned away. She looked at the screen before handing it to Gates.

"You really think this is something we're going to back down from?" She asked. Gates looked at the screen as Ryan and Esposito took a glance seeing Beckett turn to Castle. "Go sit down." She told him and watched him obey without a word. Gates looked up watching Beckett put her hands on Castle's back as she pushed him towards his office. Looking at the two men who were now turning to get back to the papers with anger written clear across their faces.

"Why are you two pushing so hard?" She asked the two men.

"Because Castle's like our brother, Alexis is like our niece. There's no way I'm going to let whoever did this to my family get away with it." Esposito told her.

"Castle's been there for us. For Beckett. We're a family, Castle included." Ryan explained and watched Gates give a small nod and turn to look at the papers.

"Then we better make sure we get your niece back. What do you have so far?" The two men looked up at her slightly shocked at her willingness to push away her rules and dislike for Castle to help find a girl she had only met once or twice.

In Castle's office, Beckett was standing beside Castle as he leaned back onto his desk. She knew he was falling apart. He was fighting every fatherly instinct and trying to be helpful, but that world was quickly falling apart.

"She's going to be okay." She said softly making him look at her.

"Kate…" He trailed off as words failed him. She shook her head and moved closer, to stand directly in front of him.

"Rick, I know that you're worried and I know that you're fighting everything inside to try to help but sometimes it's good to take that step back." He looked at her confused. "Take a minute and just relax. Me, Ryan and Esposito will not let anything happen to her and we will make sure we'll make this guy pay." He nodded not trusting his voice. "Take a breath and take a step back. I'm going to go see if we can get anything else that can help us." He gave another nod and she turned to leave.

"Kate." He called making her stop as she opened the door to the living room. She turned and looked at him as he pushed off his desk. "Thanks." She gave him a smile and nodded.

"Of course Castle." She turned back and left the office to rejoin the others. She glanced at Gates sitting in the seat Castle had occupied not long before. "You find anything else?"

"Nothing other than whatever the dad is into is not good." Esposito answered. "How's Castle?"

"He's taking a breath." She answered before reaching out and taking the bottle of wine to the kitchen.

"This one yours detective?" Gates asked looking at Beckett waiting for her answer. Beckett paused for only a second before nodding and taking her glass of wine.

"Yes. Castle and I had a drink as we discussed the facts." She told her. "We're not technically on the clock so this doesn't count." She turned sitting in a chair across from the two men. "Okay so we need to find something that can give us a direction to look."

"We need to get a hold of these two and find out why someone would want to kidnap their daughter." Esposito said looking up from the papers.

"We find out what they want we can arrange for a meet to exchange." Ryan suggested. Beckett nodded and glanced at Gates.

"You seem to think you know what is best. And you seem to think you can do what you want. I am merely watching to see if everything you, these two and Castle thinks are true." Becket looked at the two detectives as who darted their eyes from her to the papers again. Beckett set her drink on the table as Castle walked over looked like he had finished pushing everything behind the wall in his mind.

"It's nearly five in the morning. Esposito, Ryan see how far you can dig into their lives, get all the files from his work. Castle and I will go talk to the Lankastar and see what they have to say." Beckett gave orders and looked at Gates who was still seated watching.

"I'll be going with you." She told Beckett. Esposito and Ryan nodded and started.

"I'm going to go change." Castle said low. "Help yourself to the frig." Castle turned and headed to his room leaving the two women alone. Beckett walked over and started making eggs and toast, setting the coffee pot. She glanced over to see Gates watching her closely before standing and walking over to the counter.

"Would you like something to eat, sir?" Beckett asked only glancing away from her work for a second.

"You seem pretty comfortable with everything here." Gates looked at her as she stopped and looked up at her boss.

"Castle and I are not together. There have just been several times we go to one of our places to discuss a case after hours and sometimes we talk about things that we are going through at the time. We are very good friends. No matter what the pools says." She half whispered the last part as she went back to work but saw Gates shift where she stood.

"Pools?" She asked making Beckett look back at her and nod.

"Nearly everyone at the precinct are in one pool or another about Castle and me." Gates watched Beckett move around the kitchen quickly as if this was just another normal morning. She turned and saw a picture of Castle lifting Alexis up making her laugh. Off to the side a bit was another picture. One with Castle and Alexis dressed up, dancing. "Doesn't seem like the Castle you know at the precinct does it?"

"No." Was all she said. Beckett looked at the back of Gate's head as she continued to look at the few pictures that were in the dining room.

"He is a big kid but he is a great father. Castle acts immature and playful all the time but he is loving, protective and he is even serious sometimes. He has more in his office and on the shelves. You might be able to get a better understanding of who he is and why we are all fighting for him." Gates turned and glanced at Beckett before she slowly made her way to the shelves and Beckett couldn't help but smile as she saw Gates wanting to know more about Castle.

After another five minutes, Castle walked out of his bedroom, washed and changed. He walked over to where Beckett was finishing the food. "I would say you can get a shower and borrow something, but I doubt my mother has anything that should be worn." He smirked at Beckett as he pulled plates from the cabinet. He paused and looked at her. "Alexis might have something." Gates turned from looking over the bookshelves to see Beckett give a small nod.

"I'll be down in a minute." She said before turning and making her way up the stairs. Castle gave a nod before he walked over and started looking at the papers Esposito and Ryan had brought over only hours ago. Gates watched as he furrowed his brow as he read the papers once again. She walked over and looked at the table really noticing how full the table was with the papers.

"I know this isn't in the jurisdiction of your precinct and I want to thank you for not forbidding them from helping me." He said softly turning his head to look at her, not sure what to say to him.

"Even if I were to forbid them, they would still do it to help you." He smiled and she could see the affection he held for each one of them. "They seem to think you're one of them." He gave a little chuckle.

"Sometimes I think that too…" He trailed off before walking over to the coffee pot and poured two cups. "Coffee?" She shook her head and watched him go about adding the creams and sugar in each cup as Beckett came back down the stairs in a pair of jeans and a tee shirt.

"Good thing Alexis and I are the same size." She smiled as he turned handing her a cup of coffee. "Thank you."

"Well detective. What is your first move?" Gates asked making the two look at her.

"We need to talk to the Lankastars and see what is going on to because this much trouble. We can't move anywhere until we figure out what the kidnappers want." Gates nodded. "We should eat before we go. Can't be starving when we find Alexis." Beckett said as she turned back to Castle with a small smile and saw him smirk.

James and Alexis started, hearing the door swing open. They turned and found the two men who had moved them standing in the doorway. The black haired one took several steps forward before dropping two white paper bags to the floor.

"Eat." He demanded.

"Why so you can just keep using us to get something?" James asked and the man gave a glare.

"I don't know what you're after but my dad doesn't owe anyone anything. So you might want to double check your resources before you continue to torture him for something he doesn't have." The man walked closer to her. "You can let us go now and we can all forget everything that has happened and you can go about your business of getting what you want from someone who does have it."

The man swung his arm, hand connecting with the side of her face again making her stumble back into James. "Shut up." He turned and stormed out of the room slamming the door behind them.

"You know you really should argue the people with the guns. I thought you were smart." James said softly making Alexis just look at him before rolling her eyes and walking over to the food to see what their captures had brought them to eat.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Mr. Lankastar?" Beckett asked the man with sandy hair, neatly combed, his green eyes sitting behind black rimmed glasses as he answered the door. "I'm Detective Kate Beckett from the NYPD. This is Richard Castle. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions."

Pausing a moment before stepping to the side to let them in. "Of course detective. What can I help you with?"

"We are investigating a kidnapping. The kidnappers have been in contact and they mistakenly took a girl and her friend when they were supposed to be taking your daughter. We need to know what it is that they may want." The man looked between them.

"Someone wanted to kidnap my daughter?" He looked shocked. "I'm sorry I can't imagine why anyone would want to take Alex." He shook his head.

"Is there anything going on at work? Any threats? Anything at all that might help us find out what they want, or maybe help find where the girl is?" He paused for a minute trying to think before shaking his head.

"I'm sorry." Beckett glanced at Castle who just nodded and turned to look at Beckett. "I hope you'll be able to find her."

Beckett nodded. "Thank you for your time." She and Castle turned and left the house. Climbing into the car Beckett looked over to see Castle sink back into his seat with a blank look. "Just because he says he doesn't know, doesn't mean he's not hiding something."

"It doesn't mean he is either." He countered.

"Castle." She said sternly making him look at her. "I will find out who took her, why they took her and I will get her back." He just looked at him with his pain filled blue eyes when her phone rang. "Beckett." She answered before putting it on speaker to let Castle listen in.

"Ryan dug something up. You guys might want to come to the precinct to take a look." Esposito said.

"We're on our way." She hung up and started to the precinct.

Beckett and Castle walked out of the elevator a half hour later and moved as quickly as they could through the bullpen to the conference room where Esposito and Ryan were talking to Gates. The three looked up at them.

"What did you find?" Beckett asked.

"We found a lot of the gang bangers sending threats." Ryan started to explain. "Most were the normal threats to keep their members out of jail and such but this one came in last week." He handed the paper to Beckett as Castle read over her shoulder.

"Get him out or we'll do the same to your family." She paused making sure her worry and fear she had for Alexis didn't seep into her voice as she continued to read. "Our guy is not supposed to be in jail so you fix the mistake you made or you'll pay. Starting with your little girl." Castle looked up as thoughts ran through his mind. Beckett saw the look and knew they needed to get moving.

"We went through all his files and cases and didn't find anything in the cases he's working." Esposito chimed in. "I dug deeper and found three cases that could be related to that threat but their all sentenced and have been for at least a year."

"It's more likely they would be fighting for someone that was either just put in or is still in the trial phase." Gates told the four. She saw Castle shake his head. "You have another theory, Castle? Because every criminal I have ever come across would not wait years after someone was put into jail before trying to free them."

"There are several reasons they would wait so long, but in my opinion, they waited because they needed to set things up for something. We find out who they are talking about in the threat and we'll be able to narrow down what it is they are planning." He explained.

Beckett nodded. "Maybe the guy got caught for something, during the planning of a big thing. They can't risk drawing attention to themselves until they had everything set and hidden. They get this guy out they can go through with their plans." Gates just watched as the wheels were spinning in their heads trying to figure out what was going on. Suddenly Castle's phone buzzed, snapping them out of their thoughts. He looked down and saw it was a video attachment from Alexis' phone.

"It's from them." He said roughly.

"Were you guys able to pin down where the phone is reactivated?" Beckett asked looking at the two other detectives.

Ryan shook his head. "No, it's a different place each time, all over the city. Only comes on a few minutes and then it disappears again." Beckett took the phone out of Castle's hand. He watched, only his eyes following her as she walked over to her computer and plugged the phone into the USB the group gathered around as she played the video on her computer.

_Alexis sat on the ground looking up at the camera. She was glaring and unmoving until a gun came from the side of the screen and pressed against her temple. She closed her eyes and took a breath. Opening her eyes, she looked back up at the screen. _

"_Dad, they want me to tell you that I'm fine. I am. Just a few cuts and bruises, but I'm okay." She glanced to the side then back at the camera. "I know you and Beckett will get us out safe." She paused again to take a breath and close her eyes. When she opened them, again she had pure determination in the blue pools. "I love you daddy." Rushing the next sentence, "Make sure you look at buildings with nothing but cement and cars on fire." _

"_Shut up!" A deep voice said before Alexis was hit across the face with the butt of the gun and the picture went black._

The three detectives and their boss looked at Castle who stood with an unreadable look on his face. Beckett stood up strait. "Espo, get every file and every note you can on those gang bangers in prison. Ryan get every ping you can on that phone."

"Right." The two men said together before walking off to follow through with their orders. Gates watched Beckett spin to face Castle before dragging him to the lounge.

"Castle, maybe you should go to a friend's house or something. This stuff…. It's escalating and-"

"I'm not leaving." He cut her off shaking his head. "Alexis is out there, she's relying on us to get her and James to safety and its better having more people looking at the information that comes through."

"Castle…" He shook his head again. "You are not going to be able to handle things if they send anything more. Their violence and messages are escalating and the next one won't be her telling you she loves you, it won't be her just getting hit across the face." She looked up, seeing the pain floating in his eyes as he tried to hold himself together. "Rick… the next one will be worse. I don't want you to have to sit and push through all of this because you want to be a part of this case."

"I can't just walk away from this."

"I'm not telling you to walk away. I'm telling you to just take that step back. Let us filter through the information for a while. Let us deal with seeing things that tear you up."

"She's my daughter, Kate." He furrowed his brows trying to understand what she was trying to get through to him.

"You think I don't know that? She's very special to all of us. She's like a niece to the boys, she part of our family. We can't forget that she's one of us, let alone that she's your daughter." They paused looking at each other. "Go home and just relax. Think about the first thing you're going to do when we get her back."

Castle only shook his head before dropping his eyes as he spoke, "No. I can't…" He cleared his throat and looked at her. "I need to be here. I need to help, Kate, I can't just sit back and be just a dad whose daughter was taken. I have to be here to help."

Beckett looked at him and saw the determination and the pain written clear across his face. She knew she would be the same way and knew that even if Alexis wasn't her daughter, if she weren't a cop, she would be feeling the same way as he is this very instant. She glanced out at Gates who was now talking to the two detectives trying to get everything they were asked for. She turned back to look at Castle.

"If you're going to stay, you need to take a step back and let us work. I'll give you everything we find and let you listen in, but this is not like the other cases we've worked, you are not here to help me catch a murderer and play cop."

"You'll let me help?" He asked sounding slightly surprised.

"Of course I will. You can think outside the box and put things together that we can't. Besides, if I said no you would go and do it on your own and that would probably just turn out disastrous." She gave a small smile and saw a smirk tug at his lips. "As soon as we get the files we'll see what we can relate and we'll make a move." The two walked out to see what they could help find.

James was thrown back into the room. The kidnappers had taken him out of the room while they did the video. As he stumped into the room, he saw Alexis back, hanging on the hook on the beam. She had blood spilling from a cut above her right eye; the bruising was already setting in on her cheek and eye. He ran over and, again, lifted her up off the hook. This time she leaned into him with her arms around his neck and he felt her pull tight.

He turned putting his back against the beam and slowly slid down to the floor with her still in his arms, coming to rest in his lap. "Sh. It's okay. They're gone." He whispered until he felt her relax a bit. "What happened? Why did they do this?" He asked softly. Her head was resting on his shoulder, face in the crook of his neck.

"I told my dad where to look." She told him. Her voice was soft, almost a whisper as she spoke. "I told him what kind of building and the area to look." He felt a tear land against the skin of his neck.

"Sh. It's okay now, your dad has a clue where to look, and I bet they're getting even more information to build up to find us and get rid of these guys." She nodded but neither moved. Both just sitting, holding the others, hoping that her father got the message and was able to do something with the information.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Castle, Beckett, Esposito, Ryan and Gates sat in the conference room. Castle sat staring at the picture of Alexis on the whiteboard with the facts they had discovered so far written up there neatly. He took a slow breath, closing his eyes once again. He needed to stay focused on the facts, and he knew if Gates knew the battle raging inside she would have him sent home without a second thought. He had caught Gates watching him on more than one occasion in the last hour.

He knew that the others believed he was slowly falling apart, Beckett being the only one to know how true that was, and that Gates was still looking for an excuse to send him home and not allow him to help with anything. He needed to stay calm and focused as much as possible. Focused, he began running down the information they had.

Snapping his eyes open, he sat forward quickly making the others look at him. "What?" Gates asked. Beckett waited seeing him fitting things together in his mind.

"The video." He said making her raise an eyebrow.

"We have techs looking at it seeing if they can isolate anything in the sound or surroundings." She told him confused as to why he was going back to it.

"No. It's what Alexis said. She said make sure to look at buildings with only cement and burning cars."

Beckett sat up straighter as something clicked in her head. "We're looking for a warehouse, not a house or something like that."

Castle nodded, "And where are there cars burning?" He asked making her give a small smile as she stood up.

"An abandoned warehouse where homeless stay, maybe." She answered turning to the board pausing trying to figure out a way to connect the new information to how to find the two teens.

"That narrows it down, but not enough to get anywhere." Gates said as she walked over to the two watching their eyes fly over the writing.

"The phone." The both said at the same time as they faced each other. Gates watched surprised at how coordinated they were. She would watch them work on cases before, but watching them actually work through the information piece by piece was intriguing to see.

"Her phone. They have been using her phone to send the messages to Castle's phone." Beckett began.

"You said they were popping up all over the city." Gates shook her head.

"We could triangulate." Ryan suggested. "More than likely they wouldn't have gone too far from their hiding spot."

"I'll check it out." Esposito said as he stood and walked out with Ryan following to help figure out if they could narrow the area down even more. Beckett saw Gates watch the boys leave before she turned back to Beckett.

"And how are you going to figure out what building they are being held in? You can't search every abandoned building in the vicinity that they come up with." Her eyes jumped to Castle as he looked at Beckett.

"Sir, Castle and I were the only ones who were able to narrow down and find a building with a bomb in it by ourselves with nothing we had here. We will narrow it down." Beckett turned away from her boss and looked back at the board looking for something that could prove her right. It took a second before Gates turned and left the two alone in the conference room.

"You really think we can figure out what building they're in?" He asked her making her turn to face him.

"Once we know the area we'll figure it out." She gave a small smile. "We have somewhere to go now."

"Thanks to Alexis." He said softly making her smile and nod.

"She's a very smart girl."

"She is." He smiled thinking about his daughter. "And I have no idea where she gets it from."

"You know, I wonder that myself." Beckett laughed pulling a bright grin from the writer for the first time since he came running in the morning before with the news of Alexis' disappearance.

They both turned as Esposito and Ryan walked in quickly. "We have a basic area." Ryan told them. The four walked over to a map of the city that was hanging on the corkboard to the side. "Okay, the blue markers are where the traces were picked up." Esposito pinned three blue pins on the map.

"And the trace was on for about a minute each time before the phone was turned back off." Esposito added. "While it was being traced we could tell they were all moving this way." He pointed from left to right the map.

"So they were coming from this direction." Ryan said and then a smile started to break across his face. "The only area that fits the description is here, off of 13th avenue."

"We got them." Castle said as the two men went to grab with coats. He looked back at Beckett. "We found them." A smile grew across his face.

"We got them." She agreed. "Let's go get them home" He nodded and followed her out as the boys filled Gates in on what they found. "You guys ready?" She asked making them turn quickly.

"Did you call it in?" Gates asked.

"I'm going to call on the way. We can't afford to wait." Gates nodded as she turned grabbing her jacket.

"Then let's go." She said leading the way out as Castle pulled his phone out and dialed.

Seeing the look, she gave him Beckett answered for him. "He's calling his mother. She went to stay with a friend while this was all figured out." Gates gave a nod as they all walked out to the cars. She climbed into the back seat of Beckett's car and they were off with Beckett making the call for back up to meet them at the warehouse while Castle spoke to his mother.

"We're on our way there now…." He paused then clicked the phone onto speaker. "They sent a video and Alexis was able to get us a message. She basically told us where to look."

"You and Kate are on your way there right now?" Martha's voice came through.

"Yes. With Alexis' message we pin pointed the place. We'll be there in a couple minutes." Beckett said as Martha gave a soft sigh of relief.

"You'll call as soon as you get her?" Martha asked.

"Yes, mother. I'll call you as soon as we get her and her friend safe." Castle said with a small smile before they hung up and Beckett continued to race through the crowded streets of New York City, siren blaring and lights flashing. Esposito and Ryan not far behind them.

They pulled to a stop out front of the large warehouse as other cop cars screeched to a halt around them. Beckett began shouting out orders for the other cops as she opened the trunk for her bulletproof vest. Everyone was geared up and ready to go in when Gates looked at Castle, pulling his vest from the trunk.

"Where do you think you're going, Mr. Castle?" She asked making him and Beckett look at her confused as Esposito and Ryan looked at her wondering if she was going to be in charge. "You are not a cop. You are emotionally involved in the case and we cannot afford you breaking down and costing anyone their lives." She looked at Beckett for support on the matter but found the detective furrowing her brow.

"Sir, Castle can handle himself. He's been very helpful and together during the entire operation. There's no reason to stop him from coming in to help rescue his daughter." Beckett protested. Gates looked between them, obviously no happy to not have the detective's support on the matter.

"You obey every order anyone on this team says and you stay behind us. Is that clear?" Castle just nodded before she turned and walked away to take point, Esposito and Ryan nodding at Castle before they walked over to the group. Beckett turned to face Castle as he pulled his vest on.

"You sure you want to do this? It could be more than just running in, taking the guys down and walking the kids out." They locked eyes for a moment before he nodded. She understood him going in with them was something he needed to do. He needed to know his daughter was all right, not sit in the car and wait for it to be over. "Okay. Ready?" He gave another nod before she turned and led the way over to the group of police.

Slowly they made their way through the building as quietly as they could. Castle stayed behind Beckett with Esposito, Ryan, Gates and a police officer all moving through one hall. They heard a crash and several yells from around the corner making them move a bit faster. As they rounded the corner, they found James and Alexis running from four men with guns. The men leveled the guns on the teens and Beckett started forward as the teens stumbled backwards away from the men.

"Drop your weapons!" Beckett called making the teens turn to see the little group all turning the corner. The men stopped in their tracks and looked at her and the others coming from around the corner before dropping their guns to the ground and putting their hands in the air slowly. They all moved forward to handcuff the four men. Alexis wrapped her arms around Beckett as the four men were pushed out of the building.

"I knew you'd find us." Alexis said softly. Beckett wrapped her arms around teen, hugging her tight as she spoke to her.

"It's okay now. You're safe." She whispered and smoothed her hair. "You're dad's waiting." Alexis pulled away and looked to the side to see Castle standing in his tacks at the corner. The teen let go of Beckett and ran, colliding with Castle, knocking him back a few steps. The group watched as Castle held her tightly in his arms, kissing the top of her head and smoothing her hair as he whispered to her. Beckett looked at the boy beside her. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Alexis was the one who was hurt. They just shoved me around a bit." He said looking at Alexis, enveloped in her father's arms. Beckett nodded. "You really should get checked out anyway. We'll call your parents and let them know what happened."

"My parents are on a cruise, it's really hard to get a hold of them." He said softly.

"We know. We've been trying to get a hold of them since all of this happened." Ryan told him. "Come on. You should get checked out anyway." The teen nodded and walked with the detective towards where Castle and Alexis was still standing. Beckett followed with a small smile as she stopped by the father and daughter, with Ryan and James continued out to the paramedics waiting.

"You should get checked out by the paramedics." Beckett said making Alexis pull away from her father. Now that the relief of her being alive and all right was gone, he could really take in her appearance. She had bruises on the side of her face, a split-swollen lip, a cut above her eye and blood caked in her hair.

"I'm okay." She said shaking her head.

"Alexis, you need to get those cuts checked out." Castle said as he reached out to gently grab her chin and move her head to get a better look at the injuries.

"I'm fine. I just need to be cleaned up. That's all. They look worse than they are. Really, dad." She tried but Castle was not moving on the subject.

"Alexis you're dad's right." Beckett said making her look at her. "They might seem okay for now but they need to be taken care of so they aren't bad later. Believe me, I know." Alexis gave a small sigh; defeated, knowing she would not be able to get by with just going home like she wanted. "Come on I'll take you to them, your dad has to call your grandmother anyway."

"Go with Beckett while I tell Gram that you're safe." He told her with a small smile. She nodded wrapping her arms around his middle again for another tight hug.

"I love you dad." She said softly making a smile break out across his face as he kissed the top of her head.

"I love you too pumpkin." She pulled back with a small smile before Beckett put her hand on her back. "Thanks." He said softly to Beckett who only nodded and started leading Alexis to the paramedics to be checked. Castle followed them out and stepped to the side as he dialed his mother again.

"Richard, did you find her?" She answered her phone.

"Yeah, we got her and James." He said and he couldn't help a bright smile from spreading wide across his face as he looked over to where Beckett was talking with Alexis. "They're banged up a bit but their safe."

"Can I talk to her?" She asked and Castle could head the tears in her voice.

"Of course. One minute." He walked over to Alexis with a smile. "Gram wants to talk to you." He handed Alexis the phone as the paramedic cleaned the cut above her eye. He looked at Beckett who was leaning against the ambulance with a small smile. She shifted and turned her head a bit, telling Castle she wanted to talk to him. "I'll be right back." He told Alexis who nodded.

Beckett and Castle stopped a few steps away to talk. "Ryan's getting James' report now. I figured Alexis might want to get some rest before we have to get her story." She glanced at the teen then looked back at Castle. "James said they kept taking him form the room and when they shoved him back in she had a new injury." Castle looked at his daughter. he was trying to stay together, but hearing more about what the men did to her made him want to walk over to the patrol cars, where the four men and the rest of the kidnappers, including the leader were sitting, and teach them a lesson.

"When do you need it?" Castle asked looking back at the detective.

"Soon but I know how hard it can be. Gates is pushing for now." Castle nodded. "Take her home. I'll talk to her tomorrow." She turned and started walking towards Ryan and Esposito who were talking to James still while Gates was busy getting ahold of his parents. Castle walked back to Alexis as she hung up and handed the phone back.

"That should do it." The paramedic said. "Just make sure to keep everything clean and you'll be fine." Alexis nodded and looked at her father. He couldn't help the smile that was plastered on his face as he pulled her into another hug, just to know she was really standing in front of him.

"I'm glad everything turned out okay. She's a great kid." Esposito said as he and Beckett looked over to Castle and Alexis talking.

"She is." Beckett agreed.

"From what James said in his report, she's a fighter." Ryan chimed in. "She fought back every time they walked into the room. Said she found a way to get out of the room and was the reason they got as far as they did before we found them."

"She's one smart kid." Esposito said with a smirk. The three detectives turned away as Gates walked over to talk to them.

"Do you have your reports?" Gates asked.

"James gave his." Ryan told her.

"Castle's going to take Alexis home. I'm going to talk to her in the morning." At the look she got from Gates, she added, "From what we've heard and all the injuries she sustained, it would be better for her to get some rest first."

"Just because you know her does not give her the right for any special treatment. Get her account of what happened and get this case wrapped up for the DA." Gates turned and walked away with a quick glance at Castle and Alexis.

"She's really pushy about getting this case put away." Ryan said making the other two detectives roll their eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Kate!" They turned to see Alexis walking over to them as Castle walked over to check in with James.

"How you doing?" Esposito asked her as she nodded with a small smile.

"I'm better now that I'm out of there. I just wanted to thank you guys for helping me. I know it's not supposed to be yours but you pushed and did it anyway, even though your boss told you not to." At the looks she got she added, "Dad told me about it. Thanks for helping him."

"Your dad's one of us and we're a family." Ryan shrugged. "It was the least we could do. Besides it wasn't all that hard to get permission."

"You were a big help sending that message on the video. You took a big risk doing it though." Esposito told her making her nod.

"Well I knew you guys would be looking and I knew I needed to help give you a place to at least start." She shrugged. "I figured they wouldn't do anything to me because they wanted something and wouldn't get it if I were dead. So I saw an opening to get a message out and took it."

"That was a risky move." Beckett told her.

"I knew you and Dad would find me before they did anything." She explained with a small smile.

"Well you get rest and heal up." Ryan told her with a small smile as she nodded.

"I don't think I'll be getting much rest for a little while. Gram is never going to let go as soon as she gets a hold of me." She glanced over at Castle and back. "I'm actually surprised Dad let go long enough for me to come talk to you."

"Well they were worried." Beckett told her. "It was hard for them to sit and not be able to do anything. It's a relief to have you back and they want to make sure you're safe and really there." Alexis nodded, understanding the need. She had been feeling the need to be able to at least see her father since he walked around the corner in the building.

"Esposito! Ryan!" They heard.

"Duty calls." Esposito said. "Don't let your dad keep you from getting rest." He smirked before he and Ryan turned to where they were needed.

"Gram's making dinner and she said for you to come." Alexis told Beckett once it was just the two of them.

"I would but I have a lot of paperwork to do." Alexis looked at Castle who was now sitting beside James talking and looking over every few minutes. She turned back to Beckett, looking at the ground before turning her light blue eyes to look into Beckett's brown ones.

"I know you have a lot of work to do but me and Gram would really like it if you came. It would mean a lot to dad too." She looked up at the detective and Beckett knew she couldn't say no.

"I'll be there." She answered the girl and saw her nod but not move. "You okay?" She asked worried.

"Do…. do you think we could talk tonight? I just…" She trailed off as Beckett reached out putting her hands on her shoulders.

"Of course. How about we talk after dinner?" Alexis nodded and Beckett gave her a small smile as the teen looked at Castle again, this time with a look of worry. "Don't worry about your dad. I'll take care of keeping him away." Alexis gave a smile as Beckett laughed. "I need to finish up here and then I'll take you and your dad home." The teen nodded and then walked back to where her father was still talking with the boy.

Later that night Beckett sat next to Castle at the dinner table, Alexis and Martha sitting across from her and they were now just sitting and talking softly, enjoying the others' company. Alexis looked at Beckett almost pleading. Beckett stood up and walked around to Alexis who stood from her chair.

"What's wrong?" Castle asked slightly worried.

"Don't worry. Alexis and I just need to talk for a few minutes." Beckett said waving off his worry. He stood but was pushed back into his seat firmly by Beckett. She leaned forward to talk to him, level with him. "You go anywhere near us while we're talking and you'll be very sorry. 'kay?" She asked adding a bright smile at the end. Castle could only nod before the two walked up the stairs and to Alexis' room.

Martha couldn't hid the smile that had spread across her face at the look her son now wore after Beckett's threat. She was sure the detective wouldn't actually cause harm to him but the threat was still enough to silence and still the hyper writer.

"What do you think they're talking about?" He asked making her look away from her glass of wine.

"Richard, don't you even think about it. They obviously have something very important to talk about. Alexis and Beckett will make you pay dearly if you even try to figure out what they are talking about."

"But-"

She cut him off. "You really want to run the risk of the wrath of the detective and your daughter?" He paused a minute before shaking his head and sitting back in his seat to wait for the two to finish talking. After a few minutes of Castle just sitting in his seat Martha gave him a curious look. "You okay, kiddo?"

Castle looked at her. "Yeah. I just…" He trailed off as he glanced towards the stairs.

"It's hard thinking about what happened and what could have happened." Martha said making her son look back at her. "It scared the life out of me when you said she was missing and it only got worse as the case opened up. I know you felt the same."

"I was afraid, yes, but I knew Beckett and me would figure it out."

"Richard, this was a hard thing to live through. Maybe you should talk to someone about it." He gave her a stubborn look she knew well. "I'm only saying that talking about how you felt and feel now could help you ease back into life. I talked to Annie while I was at her place and after you told me she was okay, I talked to her about how I was feeling. Once I had it out in the open to someone I trusted, I felt less worried and more like this was a reality."

Castle just looked at her a minute. "Why do you think I need to talk about anything?"

"I know when things are bothering you. I raised you."

"That's a matter of a debate." He said with a small smirk to show he was kidding. She only rolled her eyes as she stood up.

"I'm just saying. Talking to anyone might help make you feel at ease." She turned putting her plate on the counter before turning back to him. She walked over and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "It's not a bad thing to still feel worried. She's your daughter, and she was just kidnapped by people who thought they had someone else. It's still scary to think about and know what she was just through." He nodded. "Good night kiddo."

"Good night mother." She walked up the stairs to her room leaving Castle to his own thoughts. After a minute, he shook his head, climbed to his feet and started to clean up.

He was putting the last dish away when he caught sight of Beckett walking down the stairs. Turning around he saw a small smile on her face. "I could have helped." She said making him shake his head.

"Where's Alexis?" He asked knowing she was more than likely in her room getting ready to go to bed but he couldn't keep the thought of something happening to her again out of his mind. Obviously, Beckett had heard the twinge of fear in his voice because her smile dropped a bit and she walked closer to him.

"She's getting ready for bed. She's safe." She said softly and saw him slump a bit before he leaned back against the counter letting out a deep breath. "You okay, Castle?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said with a small shrug. "Want some more wine?" He turned to grab the bottle of wine from the table and started to pour more into both his and her glasses. She reached out taking the glass and bottle from his hand and set them back on the table looking up at his confused expression.

"Castle…" She trailed off looking at him. "Alexis just told me everything. She needed to talk to someone and explain what she went through. It's a hard thing to live through." She saw him shake his head. "it's hard to live through but it's even harder when you're the family waiting for news. And I know-"

"No, Beckett. I'm fine." He said shaking his head.

"Castle." She said firmly making him look at her. "It's not something you can just write away like in your books. I know what it felt like. If you want to just talk about it…" she trailed off as Castle looked down at the table. After a minute, she took a small breath closing her eyes collecting her thoughts. She began to speak, opening her eyes to look straight into his blue ones. "I was scared to death that we wouldn't figure it out." He looked at her furrowing his brow.

"Beckett." She shook her head as tears came to her eyes.

"She's your daughter but it felt like she was mine when we were looking for her." It took Castle a moment to understand what she was saying. "I… I know she's not, but it felt like it and when we couldn't come up with anything-" She broke her sentence short whipping a tear away as she finally allowed her emotions from the ordeal to rise to the surface.

She knew this was completely out of character for her, she never let anyone see her cry, let alone her admitting what she felt but there was something in her telling her that she should. That he could be trusted not to say a word to anyone about her breaking down, he would be the comfort she needed and he wouldn't say or do anything to make her feel foolish. As she wiped another tear away, Castle took a step forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him.

"It's okay." He whispered as he held her to him. After a minute she composed herself enough and pulled back to look at him as he swallowed hard.

"I'm sorry; this isn't supposed to be about me and what I feel." She shook her head, trying to pull away from him but he shook his head pulling her back. He bent slightly as he buried his face in her hair to be able to talk directly into her ear.

"It's good to know you care about her too." He whispered. "She needs someone to talk to and be there for her when my mother and I can't. I'm really glad you can be."

She pulled back to look at him. "We all have things we need to talk about. We can't push everyone away, you taught me that. And like you've done for me, I'm not going anywhere." She said with a small smile making him give a lopsided smirk.

"I was really afraid we wouldn't be good enough to figure it out." He blurted out. "I thought we were actually going to lose her when we couldn't come up with a single lead. It scared the hell out of me that there was a chance I wouldn't see her again." Beckett nodded, looking onto his blue eyes, sympathetically, letting him continue. "You know, I wouldn't have been able to be any help if you hadn't kept pushing."

"We're partners. This case hit home and we needed all of us to get it solved. It was a difficult case, especially for you. You had to fight everything and help with your daughter missing. I didn't want you to have to work this but I knew you would do it anyway." She watched a small smile tug at his lips. "If you want to talk about any of it, I'm not going anywhere."

He smiled. "Then I should go get another toothbrush." She rolled her eyes but couldn't keep the smile from her face as they let go of each other.

"You're going to need it after I drop yours in the toilet for even thinking that." He smiled as he turned picking up the two glasses of wine.

Handing her the one glass he told her, "I think I'll settle for you staying for a movie then." She shook her head before giving a small sigh.

"One movie and then I need to get home. I have a lot of paperwork to do, and I need to find out how interrogation went. The boys and Gates are taking care of the men we caught at the warehouse and then they are going to bring in Mr. Lankastar. He was into something that he shouldn't have, so as soon as their done they're going to pick him up and then they are all being handed over to the FBI. Apparently they've done this a couple times before."

"Well now we have them and they can't do it again." Beckett smiled with a nod then looked over at the TV to the side.

"One movie and then I have to go, but I'll stop by and see how Alexis is doing tomorrow when I'm done at the precinct."

"Deal." He walked over to the dvd player and his collection. Pulling _Casablanca_ from the shelf. Putting it in the dvd player he turned and walked back to the couch to sit and watch the movie with his favorite detective.


End file.
